Discovering DVC timandlesley style-A PTR, 19 days TRIP REPORT LINK PG.119!!!!!

Hello everyone. I am busy looking at my ADR's and will post soon with changes I am contemplating. Since I have unti March to make ressies now I figured I should look at things more closely. I'm glad I did too because we are doing deluxe dining for the AKL part of our trip and regular dining for the SSR part of our trip. I noticed I have a lot of buffets for the deluxe dining part and want to change that so we can take full advantage of deluxe and do the buffets during the regular dining since they have appetizers and deserts on the buffets anyway (make sense?):confused3
I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas (or holiday that you celebrate). We had a great one this year. I wanted to post a few pics for you of our adventures.
On Christmas Eve we always go with Tim's family (we are lucky, we live 25 minutes from his family and 15 minutes from mine). Tim is one of SEVEN kids (he's the middle child, does that explain much:rotfl: ). So with grandkids, etc. there were 30 people in his sisters house this year.
Tim's youngest sister had twins a few weeks ago and with Tim's knee issues he hadn't seen them yet, here he is checking out nephew #1:
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And here is he checking out nephew #2:
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Tim and his other sister (not the mother of the twins) feeding the babies:
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Here is a happy Lauren in front of their tree excited about opening up gifts:
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Here is Lauren and her cousin (and best friend):
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Happy Luke:
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Tim's dad (he was a Marine and is a Vietnam War vet) opening up some Marine Corps hats we bought for him:
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Tim's mom opening up a framed pic. of the kids Luke and Lauren gave to her:
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We open up gifts from youngest to oldest, with such a big group of people it just has to be organized that way. So all the older kids are removed from the room and all of the adults watch each child open their gifts from grandma and grandpa/aunts and uncles. So Lauren was up first in our family:
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MAKEUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Then it was Luke's turn, he got some new CARS diecasts from his aunt:
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He was excited about Kung Fu Panda from grandma:
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After all gifts were opened and we were stuffed from the buffet line we headed home to set up for Santa. The kids called the Norad Santa tracker line on the way home and they told them he would be in our town between 10 and 12 o'clock. Well, they freaked out because it was 9:30 and we were still 25 minutes from home. When we got home they both dashed upstairs, brushed teeth and were in bed in 2 minutes flat. Tim and I had to set out the cookies and milk this year- too funny.
I wish I had a pic of our tree with all the presents, but I forgot to take one. I wish I had pics of the kids opening presents from us, but we have a tradition and that is videotaped every year. We set it up to catch their reactions coming in the room, etc.
Well, after all of our gifts to eachother were opened my parents and my brother and his wife arrived. We had a great breakfast together and then opened gifts.
Here are my parents opening up presents:
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My brother and his wife had a 2 week trip to Europe this summer and they hadn't done anything with their photo's yet. I made them a leather bound book on Shutterfly and was so excited to see their reaction. Here they are opening it up:
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They loved it, I was so happy!!! Here they are with their book:
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Luke's big gift this Christmas was a Nintendo DS and some games. Here is a game he got from my parents:
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Another gift for Luke:
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My brother with his Office DVD game (I love that show and this game looks halarious) and his wife with her Will and Grace season that she was excited about:
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Our favorite gift of all was personalized Disney shirts. The front says "Discovering Disney":
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and then here are the backs:
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LOVE THESE!!!!
Well, I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday and I wish each of you a very happy New Year! We were originally supposed to be out of town visiting Tim's brother but it's a 10 hour drive away and with Tims knee it wasn't an option so we are going to Tim's parents house tonight so we can play games and hang out with the adults and the kids can play with their cousins, should be a fun time. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!
See ya in the New Year, be ready for some serious trip planning because we are so excited for all the traveling 2009 will bring us!!!!!!!!!!!

Lesley
 
So did you show it to Ray, I just love that shot too.
Lesley

yep. i asked him something like, "wouldn't you just die if that was you????" and he goes, "i think i'm a little old to be trained as a jedi." i was like "YOU ARE NOT!!!!" :confused3 BOYS!

i loved all your christmas pics! looks like you guys had a great time. too funny about the kids hopping in bed! don't you wish they did that every night? :laughing: my favorite pictures is the one where you're all wearing your shirts and showing the back and mickey's just looking the other way, like, WHATEVER! :snooty: :laughing:

i have a question for you. i'm not planning a trip for myself for awhile (:sad1: ) so i'm not sure what the deal is with the new dining reservation system. my boss is going next december. obviously her ADR time is a good ways off. but is it still going to be 90 days out then or are they going to go back to 180 days? or do you know?
 
yep. i asked him something like, "wouldn't you just die if that was you????" and he goes, "i think i'm a little old to be trained as a jedi." i was like "YOU ARE NOT!!!!" :confused3 BOYS!

i loved all your christmas pics! looks like you guys had a great time. too funny about the kids hopping in bed! don't you wish they did that every night? :laughing: my favorite pictures is the one where you're all wearing your shirts and showing the back and mickey's just looking the other way, like, WHATEVER! :snooty: :laughing:

i have a question for you. i'm not planning a trip for myself for awhile (:sad1: ) so i'm not sure what the deal is with the new dining reservation system. my boss is going next december. obviously her ADR time is a good ways off. but is it still going to be 90 days out then or are they going to go back to 180 days? or do you know?
That is funny about Mickey, so true, I didn't notice that before. Maybe if they upgrade the Jedi training academy to men who act like boys Ray would go for it:rotfl: They are going to the 90 day thing permenantly, so your boss will have a long time to plan!
Lesley
 
That's a good cath about the buffets. Although waiting longer stinks, it may work out better because I'm usually changing a few around that time too.

Looks like you had a great Christmas. I love your new shirts too! :)
 

Looks like you guys had an AWESOME Christmas! Your twin nephews are sooo precious:lovestruc LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new t-shirts, sooo fun! It's funny, our friends got back on Sunday and were telling us about how incredible it was to stay at the Boardwalk so after talking to them Bryan said call and see if we can switch and we got lucky, they had availability!:thumbsup2

Our friends LOVED their trip and said it was PHENOMENAL being at Disney for Christmas. they went from 12/20-12/28. They said the crowds were the same as when we were there in April which weren't bad at all. They said that they noticed a BIG increase of crowds starting on 12/27 (Sat.) They spoke with alot of CM'S and they said that the CM'S said that the biggest crowds are the week between X-Mas and New Years! They did the candlelight processional, which they said was AMAZING Osborn lights and watch the lighting of the castle show. There pictures are AMAZING! They ordered a desktop tree from Disney florist, it was so cute and a big stuffed Mickey came with it! She said that Santa came to the Boardwalk with an elf and the kids sit on his lap and he asks each kid to touch his key and that is how Santa knows that they are in Disney and not at home! Anyway, after our evening with them last night and viewing their pictures we are hooked for a Christmas trip! We are thinking X-Mas of 2010!

I have monopolized your report! SORRY!:rotfl2:


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!:dance3:

Diane:goodvibes
 
/
Thanks for sharing all your photopass pics.

You had so many nice shots:)
 
Looks like you had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas

That is too funny about how fast the kids got into bed on Christmas Eve :rotfl2:


I knew you could do the norad santa tracker online, but had no idea you could it via phone.

Hope you and your family have Happy New Years Eve:):goodvibes
 
Once again Lesley, the photos are GREAT!!
Looks like a fun time was had by all!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

:rainbow: party: :rainbow:
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Lesley, thanks for sharing your Christmas with us! Looks like you all had a wonderful time! I just noticed that Luke looks ALOT like your brother! Maybe it is the expressions on his little face. Loved your shirts!

I can't believe how big Mickey is! I thought it must be another dog. She might turn in to Clifford! :eek:

Happy planning for your 2009 trips (S)!!! I'm really excited for you! Don't worry about the 90 day ADR mark. You have 90 +10 when you stay onsite and no one seems to be having any problems getting what they want.:thumbsup2

I just printed my TGM touring plans so I can start to get them in order - I don't usually carry around full pages of plans or anything - I just review them in the room before we leave, but this time, I might condense them down and put them in my bag - I mean I paid for expert advice, maybe I should take it.:goodvibes
 
That's a good cath about the buffets. Although waiting longer stinks, it may work out better because I'm usually changing a few around that time too.

Looks like you had a great Christmas. I love your new shirts too! :)
Yes, I'm trying to change the buffets around now, will post about that soon. Yes, we did have a good Christmas, hope you did too. I love those shirts so much we may be creating more : )
Lesley

Great pics! The twins are adorable. LOVE the Disney shirts!! :thumbsup2

Happy New Year!!! party:
Thanks, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you as well, I'm so excited about all 2009 will bring us.
Lesley

Looks like you guys had an AWESOME Christmas! Your twin nephews are sooo precious:lovestruc LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new t-shirts, sooo fun! It's funny, our friends got back on Sunday and were telling us about how incredible it was to stay at the Boardwalk so after talking to them Bryan said call and see if we can switch and we got lucky, they had availability!:thumbsup2

Our friends LOVED their trip and said it was PHENOMENAL being at Disney for Christmas. they went from 12/20-12/28. They said the crowds were the same as when we were there in April which weren't bad at all. They said that they noticed a BIG increase of crowds starting on 12/27 (Sat.) They spoke with alot of CM'S and they said that the CM'S said that the biggest crowds are the week between X-Mas and New Years! They did the candlelight processional, which they said was AMAZING Osborn lights and watch the lighting of the castle show. There pictures are AMAZING! They ordered a desktop tree from Disney florist, it was so cute and a big stuffed Mickey came with it! She said that Santa came to the Boardwalk with an elf and the kids sit on his lap and he asks each kid to touch his key and that is how Santa knows that they are in Disney and not at home! Anyway, after our evening with them last night and viewing their pictures we are hooked for a Christmas trip! We are thinking X-Mas of 2010!

I have monopolized your report! SORRY!:rotfl2:


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!:dance3:

Diane:goodvibes
Well, that sounds awesome, the stinky thing is the only time we would ever go at Christmas would be after Christmas, we couldn't bare to be away from our families for christmas, maybe when the kids are a little older though, it sounds AWESOME!!! You had me tempted about the Boardwalk, I kept talking to Tim about it, but then I started crunching points and for Tim and I to be able to do concierge for those 2 nights in November we need to stay Standard View at AKL this time. Since we've NEVER stayed at AKL though I just need to start getting excited about that, it is our home resort after all. We can do Boardwalk next year : ) Makes me so excited just thinking about all the incredible resorts we can go to year after year, GOTTA LOVE DVC!!!! Happy New Year to you guys too, can't believe I'm up this early but the dog wouldn't stop barking, lucky me!
Lesley
I love the matching shirts! Thanks for sharing the great photos! :)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them, Happy New Year!

Thanks for sharing all your photopass pics.

You had so many nice shots:)
Thanks, I'm glad I pulled them out and shared them, it inspired me to finally order the prints online yesterday, can't wait for them to arrive so I can frame them in all the frames I got for Christmas and put them in our disney living room.
Lesley
Looks like you had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas

That is too funny about how fast the kids got into bed on Christmas Eve :rotfl2:


I knew you could do the norad santa tracker online, but had no idea you could it via phone.

Hope you and your family have Happy New Years Eve:):goodvibes
Yes, the Norad webiste had a phone number listed last year and this year, they are so cool when you call, I love watching the kids faces while they are on the phone with them, they get so serious, it's GREAT!
Lesley
Once again Lesley, the photos are GREAT!!
Looks like a fun time was had by all!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

:rainbow: party: :rainbow:
Thanks so much, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AS WELL!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Lesley, thanks for sharing your Christmas with us! Looks like you all had a wonderful time! I just noticed that Luke looks ALOT like your brother! Maybe it is the expressions on his little face. Loved your shirts!

I can't believe how big Mickey is! I thought it must be another dog. She might turn in to Clifford! :eek:

Happy planning for your 2009 trips (S)!!! I'm really excited for you! Don't worry about the 90 day ADR mark. You have 90 +10 when you stay onsite and no one seems to be having any problems getting what they want.:thumbsup2

I just printed my TGM touring plans so I can start to get them in order - I don't usually carry around full pages of plans or anything - I just review them in the room before we leave, but this time, I might condense them down and put them in my bag - I mean I paid for expert advice, maybe I should take it.:goodvibes
Luke does look a bit like my brother, I agree. I know, Mickey is growing so stinkin' fast,he's such a good dog. Thanks, I can't wait for all the planning and more importantly the trips to begin!!! What I do (I think I've shared pictures of these before in previous TR's but I will do it this time as well) is I put my information for each day on a notecard and I laminate the notecards and put them in a baggie with the cash tips for that day so each day I just grab a baggie, stick it in my purse and go. It worked out awesome last year. On each notecard I have the reservation numbers for that day, dining points I am using for each meal listed out, tips amounts set aside (remember, money is in the baggie so that is all set and pre determined, I figure about 15-18% on the tips, 10% for buffets) and then on the back of the notecard I have some touring ideas for that day. I have been a TGM subscriber for over 5 years now so I have his plans pretty much memorized but it gives me a reminder of what part of the park I will be tackling that day so we get everything in over the course of the trip. Hope this idea helps you. You are getting so close!!!
Lesley
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I cannot wait to read about your 2009 Grand Adventure to WDW!! Looks like a 2009 trip is out of the question for us, since we just got back in early December!!

Christmas is great down there and I must say going @ the beginning of December puts me in the Christmas Spirit!!:grouphug:
 
Happy New Year Everyone:dance3: :banana: :cool1: :cheer2: :dance3: :banana: :cool1: :cheer2:

I hope everyone had a fun, safe celebration last night, we had a great time. Of course everyone is still sleeping in our house but I've been up for an hour because Mickey wouldn't stop barking this morning, he got stuck in his cage a little bit longer than normal yesterday due to the celebrations.

Anyway,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, we are now in 2009 and I have TRIPS TO PLAN FOR!!!!

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

In looking over our dining plans for 2009 I have two holes to fill, since they moved the ADR window to March I have time to decide.
We are going to be at Animal Kingdom Lodge from June 22-June 28th, we decided to do deluxe dining for this first part of the trip.
Then we will be at Saratoga Springs from June 28th-July 7th, we are doing regular dining for that part of the trip.
In looking things over yesterday I realized that most of our buffet meals were at the start of our trip, I'm trying to move those to the end so that we can take full advantage of the deluxe dining plan and get some of those yummy appetizers that we love in.
Here is my plan, notice the question marks and items in red, I NEED SUGGESTIONS!!!!!
June 22nd:
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner: LeCellier
June 23rd:
Breakfast:
Tusker House
Dinner: Mama Melrose
June 24th:
Lunch:Teppenyaki Mitsukashi
Dinner: Kona Cafe
June 25th:
Lunch: Yak and Yeti
Dinner: Boma (I know it's buffet but we are at AKL for the first time)
June 27th:
Breakfast: Askershus with the Princesses (DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THIS IS CHANGING TO 2 CREDITS??, if so we will be skipping this one)
Dinner: Hoop De Doo (still uncertain, should we try California Grill instead??)
June 28th:
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Dinner: ?????? HELP ME ????? (we will still be using deluxe credits for this meal)
June 29th:
Dinner: Coral Reef
June 30th:
Dinner: 1900 Park Fare
July 1st: Wolfgang Puck Dinner (or eat at ESPN Club or Beaches and Cream without a Reservation??)
July 2nd: ???????? Help Me????? Probably will be a Hollywood Studios on this night
July 3rd:
Dinner: Chef Mickey's (see 3rd of July fireworks at Magic Kingdom)
July 4th:
Dinner: OHana's (watch fireworks from the Poly Beach to avoid 4th crowds)
July 5th:
Dinner: Biergarten (never been here before)
July 6th:
???????????????Need a Dinner Reservation for our final night ??????? Would like for it to be in a park so we can spend a lot of time in the park our final night. HELP!!!
WITH ALL OF THIS I STILL WILL HAVE AN EXTRA 4 SIT DOWN CREDITS FOR THE LAST PART OF OUR STAY, ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE/WHEN TO SQUEEZE A MEAL IN????

I so look forward to your help and suggestions.:thumbsup2

Lesley

 
Hello! My suggestion would be to definitly try the California Grill. We make it a priority for every trip at WDW! The food is amazing, the view is amazing and very family friendly. I was able to bring my daughter's stroller in b/c she was sleeping the last time we were there.

Also, I would also recommend, The Flying Fish and JIKO. I've never been on the dining plan, but I do know both of these places serve excellent food and have wonderful service. ENJOY!! :)
 
The planning:thumbsup2

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I feel your pain. I was up at 8:00 this morning to let our new puppy out. Then I got on the DIS too.

The restaurants sound amazing. Did I miss it, or are you not doing Whispering Canyon?

Spoodles is a place I've heard good things about, but have never tried.

Happy Planning, smart of you to make sure you get the bang for your buck on the Deluxe Dining.:cool1:
 
i see lots of good stuff on your list so i don't really have any suggestions. although i do have to chime in and say you should try hoop dee doo. it's really fun! i will have video relatively soon on my september TR so stay tuned for that. we're on saturday right now and we went to hoop dee doo on sunday.
 
Hi Lesley! I personally think you should go to the Hoop Dee Doo on the 28th because that is when we are going!:rotfl: What about trying Yachtsman Steakhouse? Our friends ate there and said it was AWESOME! I hear you about being away from family on Christmas. In 2010 which is when we are thinking of going the boys will be 10 & 9 so I think it will be OK we would fly home on the 26th I think! We shall see, PLENTY of time to think about it:thumbsup2 When I read your dates again I realized we will be at SSR together for 3 nights, we will have to try and meet up by the pool at night for a drink and the kids could swim!:goodvibes
 
I think you would love the Hoop De Doo! It would be fun for the whole family. Can you do both California Grill and Hoop De Doo because you have extra credits?
 
Lesley,
When we went in August with our kids (7 and 5) we were originally planning to do Cali Grill, but I realized they were probably the perfect age for HDDR--we were so glad we went there. It was an absolute blast. I can't say the food was as good as CG would probably be, but it was so much fun watching their faces during the show.

Have you considered eating over at Spoodles on the Boardwalk? They have AWESOME breakfasts. I would highly recommend that to use some extra credits.
 













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